INGLEWOOD, Calif. — With a 13-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Rams brought themselves to the cusp of clinching a playoff spot and winning the NFC West.
The Rams entered the day needing a victory against the Cardinals and 3.5 or more wins by any of the Vikings, Bills, 49ers, Bengals and Browns to clinch the strength of victory tiebreaker over the Seattle Seahawks. Los Angeles got help earlier on Saturday, as the Bengals beat the Broncos for one of those wins.
Los Angeles (10-6) hosts second-place Seattle in Week 18, in what could be a meaningless game if the Rams clinch the tiebreaker by the end of the weekend.
The Rams are currently the No. 3 seed in the NFC, 1.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Falcons entering the Sunday slate.
Here are the most important things to know from Saturday night for both teams:
Describe the game in two words: Scoring struggles. In the three games since scoring a season-high 44 points against the Bills in Week 14, the Rams have failed to break the 20-point mark. But the Rams have won all three of those games, including Saturday night’s.
Prediction for next week: If the Rams clinch a playoff berth this weekend, their key starters will not play in Week 18, even if the No. 3 seed is in play. And there’s precedent. A year ago, the Rams started backup quarterback Carson Wentz in Week 18 with playoff seeding in play.
Troubling trend: Slow starts continue to be an issue for the Rams’ offense, which has now gone 13 games without scoring a touchdown in the first quarter this season. Los Angeles has also gone 11 games without scoring at all in the first quarter, which is the second-worst mark in the NFL, according to ESPN Research.— Sarah Barshop
Next game: vs. Seahawks (Sunday, Jan. 5)
The Cardinals couldn’t play spoiler for the Rams but they did get Trey McBride his first receiving touchdown of the season.
That was the highlight for a team already eliminated from playoff contention and that came into the game with two hopes: Make the Rams’ path to the playoffs harder and try to find something – or some things – to build on heading into 2025.
Losing running back James Conner to a knee injury early in the second quarter didn’t help either of Arizona’s causes. However, quarterback Kyler Murray did his part to keep Arizona in the game. He ran four times for 32 yards and threw 48 times for 321 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, putting a team with little to play for on his shoulders as long as he could.
Despite not hitting double-digits in points, Arizona’s passing game flourished with Murray throwing for 300 yards for the second-time this season, McBride breaking 100 yards for the third time and Marvin Harrison Jr. finishing with 96 yards.
QB breakdown: The score may not reflect it, but Kyler Murray was on point Saturday night. In the third quarter, he completed 13 passes. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 11 passes in the first three quarters. Murray finished with 321 yards and one touchdown on 33 of 48 passing. It was his second 300-yard game of the season.
Troubling trend: The Rams have figured out how to get to Murray throughout his career, and it continued Saturday night. The Rams sacked Murray four times, which brought their total to 28 sacks of Murray in 10 games. The Rams’ average of 2.8 sacks per game against Murray is higher than Murray’s overall career average of 2.2 sacks per game. Only the Seahawks have sacked Murray more (32 times).
Eye-popping stat: Tight end Trey McBride finally got in the end zone on a receiving touchdown on his 98th catch of the year but it wasn’t after setting an NFL record. His 97 catches before his first touchdown catch of the season are now the most in NFL history for catches without a receiving touchdown. The previous high was 92, by Keyshawn Johnson in 2001.— Josh Weinfuss
Next game: vs. 49ers (Sunday, Jan. 5)
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